Sonrisas Spanish Blog

The academic process of learning a foreign language is difficult when it’s not approached in meaningful ways. Unfortunately, young students aren’t going to find much meaning in rigorous grammar lessons and vocabulary tests. Even learning the intricacies of a first language can be taxing when the academic application is overly rigid.

Language is fluid and always in flux, regardless of whether it’s a first, second, or fifth language. Learning it while disregarding the influence of linguistic evolution stands fundamentally against the fact that language is, indeed, living. To be clear, we’re talking about stories. Any types of stories. There’s something present in all of More >

Children are linguistic sponges who hear, understand, imitate, and iterate on their own from a very early age. During the first 8 years of their lives, young ones are absorbing language skills naturally through things like songs, games, imitation, and repetition. Technology allows the opportunity to really craft an education process that reflects unique learning style and capabilities of your students, especially at an early age.

Of course, devising and collaborating to create a regimented homeschool Spanish curriculum isn’t an easy process, but there are tools available to supplement student learning in ways they will eat up. Foreign language learning is More >

The Sonrisas Spanish curriculum follows the recommendation of ACTFL that the instructor stay in the target language at least 90% of the time. We dedicate a whole section in our teacher’s manuals to strategies to accomplish this goal, and there are many resources for teachers on staying in the target language. But beyond instructional strategies there is one very important thing to keep in mind about staying in the target language—it’s a leap of faith. You must take that leap.

Despite your doubts, despite your fears, despite what parents may think, you can do it. You can teach your class entirely in More >

Children are wonderful little intellectual sponges. Sometimes getting them to learn at an early age takes a slick bit of trickery. Or, as we in the education world like to say, make their learning mean something. Make it relevant.

You can see why learning a foreign language might not be the most appealing thing to a young student: Why should I have to learn this? What use does this have for me? But Mom/Dad, this is too hard! The infinite amount of gripes from young students not seeing the benefits of language learning are substantial, but we’ve got some ways to blaze through them and, More >

The Summer Institute of Linguistics revealed that over two-thirds of children around the world are bilingual. In contrast, only 17% of Americans in total speak a language other than English. And while learning a second language is great for everyone, but there may be an ideal time to learn it. Here are three reasons why preschool Spanish curriculum lessons are the best tools for learning a second language.

Children Absorb Information Easily

According to oncology nurse, Suzanne Robin, children are much like sponges in the way they take in information. The human brain is designed to absorb mass amounts information in the very More >

One of the best practices in the Sonrisas Spanish Curriculum is to speak Spanish at least 90% of the time in your classes. This is the recommended usage that ACTFL suggests, and this is absolutely attainable with the Sonrisas lessons. At the same time, you want to insure that you are providing comprehensible input for your students. Research has shown that when students get lots of repetition with comprehensible input, they acquire language naturally and easily. All of the activities, songs, stories, and art projects in our curriculum employ visuals, props, gestures, body movement, modeling, routine and repetitive language to make the More >

The United States falls distinctly behind the rest of the world in bilingualism. Many countries require students to begin learning a foreign language in schools by eight years old. The United States puts this requirement on hold until high school, giving them only four years of study instead of at least ten.

Homeschooling has a unique advantage in this regard because language education can take on more diverse forms than it would in a traditional classroom. Spanish is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world, as well as in the United States for bilingual speakers. Developing a diverse More >

By learning Spanish as a second language, your students are opening up a world of opportunities. Spanish is the official language of 21 countries around the world, and the Hispanic population within the United States is growing. This creates an exciting opportunity for learning. But your students might not see it this way.

If you find that your students are disengaged in their curriculum, or your child is disinterested in their homeschool Spanish curriculum for children, try some of the following techniques to get them engaged and excited again.

Put the Spanish language in context.
Young students might not fully understand why it’s More >

One of the biggest challenges for elementary Spanish teachers is differentiating for students that have vastly different levels of comprehension and speaking skills. How do we address this issue, and what are some practical techniques that we can use in the classroom to differentiate?

It’s worth noting that it is very common, in all types of elementary Spanish programs, for kids to have varying degrees of Spanish skills. Some children are more linguistically intelligent than others. Some may have had more Spanish instruction than others. Some may be new to a class and not had any prior Spanish instruction at all. More >

For children living in the United States, there are countless benefits to learning Spanish as a second language. This country is becoming increasingly diverse, and so many native English speakers will work and play with Spanish speaking peers. This is why many teachers are choosing to integrate a Spanish curriculum for children into their preschool and elementary classrooms. By doing so, they are opening growth and knowledge opportunities for their students.

In this two-part series, we will explore the benefits of childhood bilingualism and how educators can jumpstart these programs in their classrooms.